Football News: Chelsea Loanee Wants Return To Parent Club, Luck With Neville, Valverde Ends Real Madrid Speculation And More
Image from: zimbio.com
1. Guatemalan football boss extradited to USA
The former head of the Guatemala Football Federation and (laughably) a member of FIFA's Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility Brayan Jimenez was extradited to the US to face charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and embezzlement. Jimenez tried to flee justice and went on the run on 3rd December, but was found and arrested in January. He has been accused of taking bribes of over $200,000 connected to the rights to broadcast the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. It is clear to see why FIFA appointed him to the committee they did!
2. MLS to mic up coaches during matches
In a move that would probably lead to football coverage being only available post-watershed if applied to the English Premier League, Major League Soccer head coaches are to wear microphones during some TV broadcasts. TV networks in the US have been pushing for this feature for a while now, but there were a few issues to be resolved, such as how to avoid inadvertent expletives. Agreement has been reached on the sound being delivered in replays only, similar to the NBA and NFL, to allow foul language to be bleeped out. The MLS will also have a representative in the production trucks overseeing what is sent to air. If only the Prem was to instigate this too, so we could hear the 'tactical genius' of Sam Allardyce telling his players to "kick it bleeping further" or Tony Pulis instructing his players to "kick him bleeping harder"....
3. Chelsea loanee wants to return to the Blues
One of Chelsea's legion of loanees, Serbian midfielder Danilo Pantic, is looking to return to his parent club. Pantic's spell with Netherlands feeder club Vitesse Arnhem has been largely unsuccessful, with just eight substitute appearances since joining them on loan for the season in the summer. In total the 19 year old has been given just 106minutes of first team football, though he did manage to pick up an assist in the Eredivisie in that time, now the unhappy youngster wants to go back to his parent club. Pantic told Blic: "I want to come back to Chelsea, just to train. Why am I in Vitesse if I am not good enough? I am crazy! I've made no mistake. If I had a chance and blew it, I would keep quiet." All of this once again calls into question Chelsea's policy of hoovering up young talent and farming it out on loan, which has shown little success in terms of finding players for the first team. Only Thibaut Courtois can be considered in any way a success, as his loan to Atletico Madrid allowed him to develop until ready to replace Petr Cech in the first team this summer.
4. Man Utd-Liverpool clash kick off time could be changed
Trafford Council have joined Manchester United in requesting a later kick off for the Old Trafford leg of the round of 16 Europa League clash with bitter rivals Liverpool. UEFA have scheduled the match for a 6.05PM kick off time on St Patrick's day, but the festivities of the day mean the club have security fears, with many security staff otherwise engaged during the day. An official statement from Trafford Council said: "Following an approach from Manchester United, Trafford Council's Safety Advisory Group have written to Uefa highlighting that it would not be safe to hold this fixture at 6pm with spectators in the stadium. This is due to problems with the club being able to ensure that the required numbers of security, stewarding and medical staff would be available due to the proposed early kick-off time. The Safety Advisory Group and Manchester United have no concerns with the fixture being played at the alternative time of 8.05pm on the same date."
5. Naismith set to return at the weekend
January transfer window signing from Everton Steven Naismith missed the midweek clash (clash in more ways than one with the way the Norwich players picked up injuries) with Chelsea but Norwich City manager Alex Neil has confirmed that the fiery Scottish forward will be fit to face Swansea City at the weekend. With the Canaries slipping into the bottom 3 following their defeat against Chelsea, the match up with the Swans has gained added significance. Neil said: "He was just carrying a slight niggle. His scores are down in the tests we do on the players so that suggests he is not well. He has not played three (full) games (in a row) in two years at Everton so obviously we have a huge game on Saturday and it would have been a huge risk to play him in this one and it wasn't one I was prepared to take."
6. This is what you call composure
Andre Pierre Gignac's decision to join Tigres in Mexican football may be questionable, but his composure on the ball is certainly not in question, as this goal in the CONCACAF Champions League semi finals against MLS side Real Salt Lake shows.
7. Neville can have no complaints about his luck
Gary Neville might not have got off to the best of starts, but it seems he is having some good luck now judging by this hilarious own goal by Carlos Kameni as Valencia beat Malaga courtesy of this:
8. Charlton coach moves to Forest
Charlton Athletic have announced that their head of sports science, Laurence Bloom, has left the club to join Championship rivals Nottingham Forest. Chris Powell took Bloom to the Addicks in 2011, having recruited him from Southend United, where he had worked as their strength and conditioning coach. Forest manager Dougie Freedman worked with Bloom at the end of his playing career with Southend. The Charlton website said Bloom: "had played a key part towards the fitness, strength and conditioning of the Addicks' first-team players over the past five seasons. The club would like to thank Laurence for his hard work and dedication throughout his time at Charlton."
9. Valverde ends Real Madrid speculation
Athletic Bilbao's head coach Ernesto Valverde has been linked with the Real Madrid role in recent weeks, as they continue to struggle in the Primera Liga despite replacing Rafael Benitez with Zinedine Zidane. Valverde has insisted he knows nothing of the rumours and instead signed a new contract with the Basque club. Valverde led Athletic Club to their first trophy in 31 years with a two leg win over Barcelona to lift the Supercopa de Espana.
10. Leeds deny Cook rumours
Leeds United have expressed annoyance over rumours circulated in the media that young midfielder Lewis Cook has a release clause that would render them powerless to keep him. The Whites had rejected a bid from Premier League side Bournemouth for Cook in the January transfer window, but then were beset by claims that they would not be able to resist in the summer due to the release clause. A club statement said: "Leeds United would like to categorically deny reports that have emerged in the local press this morning regarding a supposed release clause in the contract of Lewis Cook. The claim by the Yorkshire Evening Post, which the club feels was published with damaging intentions, is entirely inaccurate and unfair reporting. No release clause whatsoever exists in the contract of the player in question."
Written by Tris Burke March 03 2016 13:04:47